Intermodal storage and transportation container

ABSTRACT

An intermodal container for transporting frac proppant, such as frac sand, and/or other types of granular material is disclosed. The intermodal container is designed to receive frac sand from a quarry or other frac sand supply source. Once the container is filled with material, the container is loaded onto a transportation device and transported to a well site. Once received at the well site, the containers can be stacked and the frac sand stored until needed. Once the frac sand is needed, the containers are placed on a base unit and the container discharges its contents onto a conveying system formed as part of the base unit. The conveying system directs the frac sand to a blending location. The empty intermodal containers can be removed from the base unit and loaded onto a transportation device to be refilled at a mine site.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is based on and claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/811,493 filed Apr. 12, 2013.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure generally relates to an intermodal container andbase unit having a conveyor for transporting, storing and distributing afrac proppant, such as sand, from a product source to a well site. Theintermodal containers and base unit allow a relatively large volume offrac proppant to be stored at a transport terminal or well site andsubsequently distributed for use in hydraulic fracturing (hereinabbreviated “fracking”).

BACKGROUND

At a fracking well site, a granular-containing fluid is pumped through awell bore and to targeted regions to create “fractures” within theunderlying hydrocarbon formations. The granular material used in themining fluid is referred to as a proppant. In many cases, the proppantis a specialized type of sand (natural, man-made or modified), referredto generally as frac sand.

Frac sand must be transported to the well site, which is often asignificant distance away from the source of the fracking sand.Presently, the frac sand is trucked to the well site and discharged fromthe storage truck into a relatively small storage area at the well site.Since large volumes of sand and water must be continuously provided tothe well site by trucks, traffic issues arise, which can interrupt thesupply of either the water or frac sand. If the supply of either thewater or frac sand is disturbed, such a disruption can result in theinefficient use of the well drilling equipment. If well drillingequipment is shut down because of the lack of supply of either sand orwater, the cost to the well drilling company can be significant.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a system and method to providecomplete proppant storage, transloading and well pad delivery withinunitized intermodal containers. The system and method utilizes anintermodal container that receives a granular material, such as fracsand, from an excavation site. On the intermodal containers are loadedwith frac sand, the containers may be transported to a transloadingterminal using ships, rail cars or trailer trucks, or a combination ofthe three. When the intermodal containers are received at the well siteloaded with frac sand, the containers are stacked in a storage locationon or near the well site. This allows the well site operator to storesand in the same intermodal containers that were used to transport thesand to the well site.

As needed, the intermodal containers are positioned on a base unit andthe contents of the intermodal container are emptied onto a conveyorbelt supported below a support frame of the base unit. Each of theintermodal containers is designed such that the container can empty theentire contents of the container onto the conveyor belt withinapproximately five minutes.

Once the container has been emptied of its contents, the container isremoved from the base unit and either returned to the storage locationor placed on a transportation device, such as a trailer truck, forremoval from the well site. The intermodal containers will typically bereturned to the proppant source for refilling and retransportation backto the well site. The proppant source could be a mine or other locationsthat include a supply of the proppant, such as a terminal silo, sea portor other storage location.

The base unit that supports multiple containers allows the containers tobe emptied onto a conveyor belt such that the conveyor belt candistribute the frac sand to a blending location. The base unit remainsin a fixed position and the series of intermodal containers are placedon the base unit to deliver the frac sand as desired

As can be understood by the above description, the same intermodalcontainer is used to receive sand at the sand mine, transport the sandto the well site either on a rail car, ship or truck, store the sand atthe well site until the contents of the container are needed and finallydischarge the sand onto a conveying system. The use of a singlecontainer for initial loading, transportation, storage and dischargereduces the amount of time and transportation cost needed to deliverfrac sand to a well site.

Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will bemade apparent from the following description taken together with thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate the best mode presently contemplated of carryingout the disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a well site including a storage locationhaving a series of stacked intermodal containers and two discharginglocations in which the frac sand from the intermodal containers isdischarged;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of two rows of intermodal containerssupported on a base unit including a conveyor belt;

FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of one of the intermodal containersincluding a closed top hatch;

FIG. 4 is a top perspective view similar to FIG. 3 with the top hatchopen;

FIG. 5 is a side, top perspective view illustrating the opening of aload door for loading of the intermodal container;

FIG. 6 is a magnified view showing the operation of the manual slidegate for the intermodal container;

FIG. 7 is a front view of the intermodal container;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the intermodal container;

FIG. 9 is a top perspective view of the base unit;

FIG. 10 is a magnified side view showing the orientation of a clam shellgate;

FIG. 11 is an end view of the base unit;

FIG. 12 illustrates the positioning, of multiple containers on a railcar;

FIG. 13 illustrates the positioning of multiple containers on a trailer;

FIG. 14 illustrates the stacking of multiple containers by forklift orsimilar equipment;

FIG. 15 illustrates the transportation of empty intermodal containersutilizing a truck and trailer; and

FIG. 16 is a schematic illustration of a control system for theactuators and the base unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a well site 10 that includes a well pad 12. The wellpad 12 includes a blender 14 that receives the supply of proppant, suchas frac sand, which is then combined with water and distributed throughthe well bore to carry out the fracking process. Throughout the presentdisclosure, the term “frac sand” will be used to generally refer tovarious types of frac proppants, which may include sand, resin coatedsand, ceramic sand and yet to be developed proppant materials.

In accordance with the present disclosure, a relatively large number ofintermodal containers 16 can be stacked on rig mats in a storagelocation 18 on the well pad 12. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, thestorage location 18 includes twelve rows of intermodal containers 16stacked four deep and two high, which results in 96 individualintermodal containers 16 being contained at the storage location 18. Aforklift 20 or other similar device can be used to transport each of theindividual intermodal containers 16 from the storage location 18 to oneof two discharge locations 22 also on the well pad. Each of thedischarge locations 22 feeds a conveyor 24 that receives the frac sandfrom a base unit 26 to supply the frac sand to the blender 14. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 1, each base unit 26 is located in a fixedposition and is sized to support five individual intermodal containers16 on a first level and possibly another five intermodal containers 16on a second level. Thus, ten of the intermodal containers 16 can besupported by each of the base units 26.

Once any one of the intermodal containers 16 has been emptied, theforklift 20 removes the container 16 from the base unit and places theempty container either back in the storage location 18 or onto thetrailer/transportation truck 28. Although ninety six containers 16 areshown in the storage area 18, it should be understood that the number ofstorage containers contained in the storage area 18 could be expanded,depending upon the area available at the well site.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the base unit 26 with seven individualintermodal containers 16 supported by the base unit 26, five in a firstrow and two in an upper, second row. The base unit 26 includes a seriesof stabilizer legs 30 that can be hydraulically adjusted to compensatefor uneven ground. Each stabilizer leg 30 includes a base 31 that movesrelative to a steel base 32. The base unit 26 supports an upper andlower run of a conveyor belt (not shown) to transport the dischargedfrac sand along the length of the base unit 26 from a first end 33 to asecond, discharge end 34. The base unit 26 includes a series of lowersupport brackets 36 that support the upper run of the moving conveyorbelt that directs the frac sand to the discharge end 34. The dischargeend 34 includes a pair of support arms 38 that are angled upward todirect the flow of material to the blender, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring, back to FIG. 2, the base unit 26 is shown in the illustratedembodiment as supporting five individual intermodal containers 16 on afirst row and a possible five additional intermodal containers on asecond, upper row. When two rows of intermodal containers 16 are stackedas shown in FIG. 2, the upper intermodal containers 16 feed materialinto the lower intermodal containers. The lower intermodal containersare each aligned with one of five discharge chutes 40 that areselectively controlled to discharge material from the lower intermodalcontainer 16 onto the moving conveyor belt. Further details of theintermodal container 16 and the base unit 26 will be described in detailbelow.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate one configuration for the intermodal container16. The intermodal container 16 includes a storage body 42 that isformed from eleven gauge steel and supported within a support frame 44.The support frame 44 generally includes four spaced vertical posts 46that are joined to each other at their bottom ends by a series of lowerrails 48. A series of top rails 50 connect the top ends of the posts 46to provide a stable frame for the storage body 42. As illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 4, each corner of the support frame includes an intermodalcorner connector 52, which are standard components and are used to jointhe intermodal containers to each other and to the base unit 26 when thecontainers are mounted as shown in FIG. 2.

Referring back to FIGS. 3 and 4, the frame 44 further includes a pair offorklift tubes 54 that are mounted across the front and back lower rails48. The tubes 54 are sized to receive tines of a forklift such that aforklift can be used to lift and move the entire intermodal container16.

In the embodiment illustrated, the entire intermodal container 16 has apreferred length of ten feet, a preferred height of eight feet, and apreferred width of eight feet, which is a standard size for intermodalcontainers used to transport other types of materials. The container hasan empty weight of approximately 3500 lbs. and a weight of fifteen tonswhen fully loaded with frac sand.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the storage body 42 has a top wall 56that extends between the series of top rails 50. The top wall 56includes a load door 58 connected to the top wall by a series of hinges60. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the load door 58 can pivot to an openposition that provides access to a loading opening 61 to the storagebody 42. When the load door 58 is in the position shown in FIG. 5, fracsand can be easily loaded into the open interior 62 of the storage body42. It is contemplated that the load door 58 would be moved to this openposition when the container 16 is initially loaded with frac sand.

The load door 58 includes a central opening 64 that allows material tobe transferred into the storage body 42 when the load door 58 is in theclosed position. The central opening could be used when initiallyloading the container or when transferring frac sand from an uppercontainer positioned above a lower container. The central opening 64 hasa diameter of twenty inches, although other dimensions are contemplated.

Referring back to FIGS. 3 and 4, in the embodiment illustrated, thecentral opening 64 of the load door 58 can receive either a top hatch 66or a filler cone 68. When the top hatch 66 is positioned above thecentral opening 64, the top hatch 66 prevents material from enteringinto the storage body 42. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the tophatch 66 is mounted to the top surface of the load door 58 by a hingeand can be pivoted to a storage position. The filler cone 68 is alsomounted to the top surface of the load door 58 by another hinge and canbe pivoted to its usage position in which it is aligned with the centralopening 64. The filler cone 68 helps to guide material into the storagebody 42, as will be described in greater detail below.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, the storage body 42 of the intermodalcontainer 16 includes a lower discharge portion 70 that is defined by apair of sloped end walls 72 and a pair of sloped sidewalls 74. Thesloped end walls 72 and sloped sidewalls 74 are each formed from steeland meet with each other at a lower end to define a discharge openingfor the container 16. The discharge opening allows frac sand to bedischarged from the storage body, which is controlled by a manuallyoperated slide gate. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the sloped endwalls 72 extend at an angle A of approximately 35° relative tohorizontal while the sidewalls 74 shown in FIG. 8 extend at an angle Bof approximately 43° relative to horizontal. The angles A and B arechosen to direct the flow of material from within the storage body tothe discharge opening through only the force of gravity. The specificangles selected allow the storage body to be emptied of the entiresupply of frac sand is less than five minutes.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the slide gate 76 is shown in its closedposition. The slide gate 76 can be manually operated to move a controlplate 78 between a fully open position and a fully closed position. Thecontrol plate 78 includes a moving mounting block 80 having a threadedreceiving opening 82 coupled to an externally threaded control rod 84.The control rod 84 extends through a front support bracket 88 andincludes a drive nut 86 that can receive a tool that can be used tomanually rotate the control rod 84. As the control rod 84 rotates, themounting block 80 moves along the length of the threaded control rod.Since the mounting block 80 is connected to the plate 78, rotation ofthe control rod 84 moves the plate 78 relative to the discharge openingof the intermodal container.

FIG. 3 illustrates the slide gate 76 in the closed position while FIG. 4illustrates the slide gate 76 in the open position. In the openposition, the mounting block 80 has moved toward the support bracket 88such that the control plate 78 is moved from beneath the dischargeopening of the intermodal container 16. In this manner, the slide gate76 can be used to control the discharge of material from within thestorage body 42.

Referring back to FIG. 2, after one of the intermodal containers 16 onthe lower row is positioned on the base unit 26, the top hatch 66 isremoved and the filler cone 68 moved into position in which it isaligned with the top opening. Once the filler cone 68 is in position, asecond intermodal container can be mounted on top of the firstintermodal container as illustrated. Prior to such mounting, anintermodal pin 90 is positioned in each of the corner connectors 52. Theintermodal pin 90 is then received within a mating corner connector on asecond intermodal container mounted to the lower intermodal container.

Once the intermodal container of the top row is positioned on top of anintermodal container of the bottom row, the slide gate for the upperintermodal container is manually opened such that material begins todischarge from the upper container into the lower intermodal containerthrough the top opening of the lower container. If the lower intermodalcontainer is full, the frac sand is prevented from passing from theupper row to the lower row. However, if the lower intermodal containeris empty or partially full, sand begins to flow from the upper containerto the lower container. In this manner, the material from the upper rowof intermodal containers can be discharged into the lower row ofintermodal containers for ultimate delivery from the lower containeronto the conveyor belt of the base unit 26.

FIG. 9 illustrates the base unit 26 of the present disclosure. Asdescribed previously, the base unit 26 supports a conveyor belt thattransports the frac sand material from a first end 33 to the dischargeend 34. The base unit 26 includes a pair of spaced support rails 94connected by a series of cross supports 96. Each of the cross supports96 includes a connector block 98 having an intermodal pin 100. Theintermodal pins 100 are received within the intermodal corner connectorscontained on each of the intermodal storage containers mounted to thebase unit 26. In the embodiment illustrated, the base unit 26 includesfive different mounting locations 92 that each include a discharge chute40 that are each positioned between a pair of the cross supports 96. Themounting locations 92 each can receive one or more stacked containers16, as shown in FIG. 2. Referring back to FIG. 9, the discharge chutes40 each include a gate 102 that is selectively controlled to a userselected position between a fully closed and fully opened position. Thedischarge chutes 40 can thus be controlled to selectively dischargematerial from one of the intermodal containers when the intermodalcontainers are positioned above the discharge chutes, as illustrated inFIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 9, each of the support rails 94 includes a series ofstabilizer legs 30 that each can be independently hydraulically adjustedto level the base unit 26 when the base unit 26 is positioned on unevenground.

Referring now to FIG. 10, the discharge chute 40 includes a clam shellgate 102 that is connected to an actuator 104. In the embodimentillustrated, the actuator 104 is a hydraulic cylinder having a controlrod 106 that is movable into and out of a main body 108. When thecontrol rod 106 is retracted within the body 108, the clam shell gate102 pivots in a clockwise direction to open the discharge chute 40 andallow material to pass through the chute 110 and fall onto the conveyorbelt 112. The conveyor belt 112 is supported by a series of supportbrackets 36 that each extend beneath the support rail 94. Although theactuator 104 is shown as being a hydraulic cylinder, it is contemplatedthat the actuator 104 could be an electrical motor or similar componentthat is operable to move the clam shell gate 102.

When the operator wishes to supply a larger volume of sand onto theconveyor belt 112, the actuator 104 is energized which causes the clamshell gate 102 to move in a clockwise direction and supply additionalsand to the conveyor belt 112. If the operator wishes to reduce theamount of material directed onto the conveyor belt 112, the actuator 104is energized in the opposite direction to extend the control rod 106 andmove the clam shell gate 102 in a counterclockwise direction until itreaches the filly closed position shown in FIG. 10.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, each of the discharge chutes 40 includes itsown actuator 104 and clam shell gate 102. Each of the actuators 104 canbe independently operated and electronically controlled by a centralcontroller 114, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 16. The controller114 can be mounted at any location at the well site as long as thecontroller is in communication with each of the actuators 104. In oneembodiment, the controller is positioned in a protective housing on thebase unit and is in wired communication with the actuators 104 such thatthe controller 114 can issue command signals to control the movement ofthe chute actuator in either direction. However, it is contemplated thatthe controller 114 could also be located remotely from the base unit andbe in wireless communication with the chute actuators 104 throughconventional wireless communication techniques, such as Bluetooth.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 16, the actuator 104 is a hydrauliccylinder. It is contemplated that the controller 114 can selectivelyopen and close electronically controlled hydraulic valves to control theflow of hydraulic fluid to the cylinder body of the actuator 104. It iscontemplated that the actuator 104 could take other forms, such as anelectronically actuated motor or other similar component. In eithercase, the controller 114 sends control signals that selectively controlthe movement of the actuator 104 to move the clam shell gate to open andclose the discharge chute leading from the intermodal container.

As illustrated in FIG. 16, the controller is coupled to a user inputdevice 116, such as a keyboard, such that the user can enter controlcommands into the controller 114. It is contemplated that the user inputdevice 116 could take many different forms, such as a keyboard, a mobiledevice, such as a smartphone or tablet, or any other type of device thatcan communicate to the controller 114. The communication between theuser input device 116 and the controller 114 can be a wired connectionor a wireless connection, such as but not limited to Bluetooth. It iscontemplated that if the user input device 116 is a mobile device, anoperator could control the operating conditions of the base unit 26 fromany location within the wireless communication range of the controller114.

In addition to controlling each of the chute actuators 104, thecontroller 114 can also control the drive unit or the conveyor belt, asshown by block 118. The controller 114 can also be connected to adisplay 120 that visually displays the operating parameters for theentire base unit. The display 120 could be located at or near the baseunit or could be part of the user input device 116.

Referring now to FIG. 11, each of the support brackets 36 supports aseries of rollers 122 that allow the lower run of the conveyor belt 112to be supported and move along the length of the base unit. The conveyorbelt 112 has a width of twenty-four niches in the illustratedembodiment. Each of the rollers 122 is mounted to a lower support plate124, which in turn is connected to the side brackets 126. A series ofbraces 128 provide additional strength and stability to support theconveyor belt 112 when the conveyor belt 112 is loaded with material.

FIG. 12 illustrates the use of a rail car 130 to support five separateintermodal containers 16 for initial loading from a pit conveyor 132.The pit conveyor 132 can be located at a sand pit or other locationwhere sand is mined and loaded for distribution.

FIG. 13 illustrates the same intermodal containers 16 mounted on one ormore trailers 134 pulled by a cab 136. As in the embodiment shown inFIG. 12, each of the containers 16 can be loaded with sand from a pitconveyor 132 while supported on toe trailer 134.

FIG. 14 illustrates the use of a crane 135 that is located at the wellsite and used to stack the containers 16. Once the containers are empty,the crane and/or the forklift 20 can be used to load the emptycontainers back on the trailer or rail car. The empty containers canthen be returned to the mine or loading facility on the trailers 134pulled by the cab 136 shown in FIG. 15.

As most clearly understood in FIG. 1, the transportation, stacking, andunloading of the individual intermodal containers 16 allows a well siteoperator to store a large volume of sand at a well site. Once each ofthe individual containers 16 has been emptied, the container can beloaded onto a trailer and hauled back to the mine for reloading withfrac sand. Since the intermodal containers 16 can be loaded ontoconventional trailers and rail cars, the intermodal containers providethe frac proppant provider with the flexibility of utilizing, the samecontainers for shipping, storage and distribution of the sand at thewell site. The intermodal containers are designed to be stacked in themanner illustrated in FIG. 1, and can be moved around the well siteutilizing various different types of equipment, such as forklifts andcranes.

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention,including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in theart to make and use the invention. The patentable scope of the inventionis defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur tothose skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be withinthe scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do notdiffer from the literal language of the claims, or if they includeequivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from theliteral languages of the claims.

We claim:
 1. A container for carrying a fracking proppant such as sand,comprising: a support frame; a storage body mounted within the supportframe and having an open interior to receive a supply of the frackingproppant; a discharge section formed as part of the storage body in thesupport frame, the discharge section being formed from a pair of slopedend walls and a pair of sloped sidewalls that converge at a dischargeopening; a slide gate positioned beneath the discharge opening andselectively movable between an open and a closed position; a load doormounted to a top wall of the storage body and movable between a closedposition to cover a loading opening in the storage body and an openposition to provide access to the loading opening; and a central openingformed in the load door, wherein fracking proppant can be loaded intothe open interior of the storage body through the central opening whenthe load door is in the closed position.
 2. The container of claim 1further comprising a top hatch mounted to the load door and movable toselectively cover the central opening.
 3. The container of claim 2further comprising a filler cone mounted to the load door and movableinto alignment with the central opening when the top hatch member ispositioned away from the central opening.
 4. The container of claim 1wherein the discharge opening is smaller than the central opening. 5.The container of claim 4 wherein the discharge opening is located suchthat the discharge opening of a first container is aligned with thecentral opening of a second container when the first container isstacked above the second container.
 6. The container of claim 1 whereinthe sloped end walls each are positioned at an angle of approximately35° relative to horizontal and the sloped sidewalls each are positionedat an angle of approximately 43° relative to horizontal.
 7. Adistribution system for delivering a fracking proppant, such as sand, toa blender at a well site, comprising: a base unit having a pair ofspaced support rails each extending from a first end to a second end,the base unit including a plurality of mounting locations; at least onecontainer supported on the base unit at each of the mounting locations,wherein each container includes a storage body for holding a supply ofthe fracking proppant and having a discharge opening; a conveyor beltsupported beneath the pair of support rails and extending from the firstend to the second end; a plurality of support rollers mounted beneaththe support rails to support the conveyor belt; a discharge chutelocated in each of the mounting locations and aligned with the dischargeopening of one of the storage containers when the storage containers aresupported on the base unit; and an actuator coupled to each of thedischarge chutes to control the amount of fracking proppant deliveredfrom the container onto the conveyor belt.
 8. The distribution system ofclaim 7 wherein each discharge chute includes an actuator operable tocontrol the amount of fracking proppant delivered from the storagecontainer.
 9. The distribution system of claim 8 wherein the dischargechute includes a clam shell gate coupled to the actuator, wherein theclam shell gate is movable relative to the discharge chute to controlthe amount of fracking proppant dispensed onto the conveyor belt. 10.The distribution system of claim 9 wherein the actuator is a hydrauliccylinder coupled to the clam shell gate.
 11. The distribution system ofclaim 8 further comprising a controller coupled to each of the actuatorssuch that the controller controls the discharge of the fracking proppantonto the conveyor belt at each of the mounting locations.
 12. Thedistribution system of claim 11 further comprising a user interfacedevice in communication with the controller.
 13. The distribution systemof claim 12 wherein the user interface device is in wirelesscommunication with the controller.
 14. The distribution system of claim7 wherein each of the containers includes a slide gate positionedbeneath the discharge opening, wherein each slide gate is selectivelymovable between an open position and a closed position to selectivelycontrol the discharge of the fracking proppant from the container. 15.The distribution system of claim 14 wherein the slide gate isindependently operable from the discharge chute.
 16. A base unit forsupporting a plurality of containers each including a supply of atracking proppant, such as sand, the base unit comprising: a pair ofspaced support rails extending from a first end to a second end, whereinthe base unit defines a plurality of mounting locations that eachreceive one or more of the containers; a conveyor belt supported beneaththe pair of support rails and extending from the first end to the secondend; a plurality of support rollers mounted beneath the support rails tosupport an upper run of the conveyor belt; a discharge chute located ineach of the mounting locations, wherein the discharge chute is alignedwith a discharge opening of the storage container mounted at themounting location; a clam shell gate positioned at each of the dischargechutes and selectively movable between an open position and a closedposition; and an actuator coupled to each of the clam shell gates tocontrol the position of the clam shell gate relative to the dischargechute.
 17. The base unit of claim 16 further comprising a controllercoupled to each of the actuators such that the controller controls theposition of each of the clam shell gates through operation of theactuators.
 18. The base unit of claim 17 further comprising a userinterface device in communication with the controller.